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Hajime no Ippo Boxing Manga Exceeds 100 Million Copies in Circulation

The official Twitter account of George Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo boxing manga announced on Friday that the manga has reached over 100 million copies in circulation, with the release of the manga's 138th compiled book volume, also on Friday.

The cover illustration of the manga's 138th volume (image right) pays homage to the manga's first volume, which published in Japan in February 1990. The manga's commemorative illustration for the 100 million milestone will publish in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Magazine's 33rd issue on Wednesday.

Morikawa expressed his gratitude to the manga's fans for reaching the milestone, and added that the manga is "halfway through" the story, and asked fans for their continued support. Morikawa launched Hajime no Ippo in 1989, and the series is his only manga.

The manga inspired a television anime adaptation in 2000, followed by the Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger sequel in 2009 and the Hajime no Ippo Rising sequel in 2013. The series also inspired the Hajime no Ippo - Champion Road special and the Hajime no Ippo - Mashiba vs. Kimura original video anime in 2003. Geneon Entertainment released the first television anime season on DVD in North America before the company ceased operations in 2007.

Discotek licensed the first anime and is releasing the series on Blu-ray Disc. Crunchyroll is streaming the original anime adaptation and Hajime no Ippo Rising.

The manga inspired its first stage play adaptation in 2020.

Kodansha started releasing the manga digitally in 2021. The manga's first 110 volumes are currently available on Kodansha's Magazine Pocket website.

Sources: Hajime no Ippo manga's Twitter account, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web